1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to hand tools, and more particularly to grappling hooks and the like that can be used for lifting heavy bales and/or bundles of material.
2. Description of the Prior Art
One handed grappling hooks of various kinds have been known in the prior art. For instance, there is the hay bale grappler which basically includes a handle provided with one or more elongated hooks. The hooks are plunged deep within a bale of hay so that the curved end portions of the hooks engage the tough, fibrous mass of hay compacted therein. The bale of hay can then be lifted, hauled and thrown about with much greater ease than would otherwise be possible.
While grappling hooks are known, a tool adequately designed to lift heavy bundles of roofer's shingles and shakes is not known. Until this time the roofer was forced to lift and carry a bundle of shakes or shingles by holding onto the thin metal or plastic retainment band that surrounds the middle of the bundle. Since a wet bundle of shakes or shingles can weigh over a hundred pounds, and since well over a hundred bundles may be needed to roof an average residential home, it may be appreciated that such a method of handling bundles constitutes painful and exhausting work.
Another problem plaguing the roofer is how to remove the retainment band from the bundle of shakes or shingles. Traditionally, a roofer's hatchet was used to chop through the band, although nowadays sheet metal snippers are more commonly used since staple guns have largely replaced the roofing hatchet. If a hatchet is used on the band, it quickly becomes dulled and therefore useless for other purposes, such as trimming the shingles. Either way, a special tool is required which costs money and which can lead to aggravation when it is lost or misplaced.
What the prior art lacks, then, is a roofer's bundle tool which is designed and engineered to quickly, easily and efficiently carry about a bundle of shakes or shingles and, if desired, cut the band off of the bundle.